


The Woman He Played

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Series: Skirt Suits [1]
Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 17:06:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6017818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1x07 from Scottie's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Woman He Played

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mskatej](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mskatej/gifts).



> Scottie is one of my favorite characters - I could go into why, but I won't - and over the past few days I got it in my head to write about how Play the Man went for her. This was written in about three days and is unbeta'd, so I freely admit there are likely many mistakes. Additionally, as it is meant to be Scottie's perspective on her part of the events of that episode, a fair amount of dialogue is lifted straight from the episode, and I make no claims to it. Finally, the story mentions several real entities (people and firms); I have no affiliation with any of them and reference them fictitiously.

The sound of her desk phone jolted Dana out of her mid-morning daydream, and thankfully she’d already finished her coffee because she definitely wasn’t in the mood to explain to Grant Thornton why she needed them to execute a second engagement letter. She glanced at the number displayed but didn’t pick up; a moment later, she heard the familiar sound of her secretary answering on the second ring precisely. Surprisingly enough, though, her phone immediately rang again.

“Hi, Linda,” she said distractedly. “Who’s on the line?”

“Daniel Vega,” Linda answered crisply. “Apparently he did a handshake deal with Jones Debeque and now they want to merge.”

“Great,” said Dana, rolling her eyes slightly. “Why don’t we give this to Karen Patel, hmm? She needs some M&A experience. Tell her to stop by my office and I’ll prep her for the due diligence.”

“Actually, Ms. Scott, I…think you might enjoy handling this one yourself.”

“What? Linda, I’m busy; I don’t have time to go to New York. Daniel isn’t going to be offended if I send an associate.”

“No. But Jones Debeque is represented by Pearson Hardman. Specifically, by Harvey Specter.”

Oh. Well. In that case…Dana sighed.

“Put him through,” she told Linda, and smirked to herself.

She really _was_ too busy for this deal, but maybe with a little effort she could make it worth her while. She’d heard of Jones Debeque, and his hotels definitely had potential, even if their owner did stupid, impulsive things like agree to mergers with a handshake, on a whim.

To be fair, Vega had just done that, too.

Still, at least Daniel had a solid business plan. He could probably run the new hotels effectively and make a good profit, too, if it weren’t for the Mr. Impulsive he was about to get in bed with.

Luckily there were ways around that.

And if it gave her a win over Harvey Specter, well, so much the better.

It wasn’t that she cared, not really. She had moved on from _whatever_ it was that they’d had; she’d met a nice man; she was going to get married. She and Harvey hadn’t _really_ been a thing since law school, after all – occasional casual sex does not a relationship make. They weren’t even still rivals, honestly. Not that she didn’t like beating him, but that was just because he was good at his job and she was competitive. And yeah, she’d probably still sleep with him this go-round, because that was their little tradition and it wasn’t as if she were young or silly enough to have some kind of hen party. Harvey could be her last hurrah. But he was in the past.

“Scott, hello,” Daniel said cheerfully when the click let her know that Linda had forwarded his call.

“Hi, Daniel. I hear you eloped and suddenly need a prenup.”

“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t think you could handle it,” he countered smoothly.

“Of course I can _handle_ it,” she teased. “If you’re trying to challenge me, though, couldn’t you have just decided to restructure your holding company to avoid corporate taxes? This has some real risks, and not just financial ones. You’d be putting a whole lot of trust in someone who, frankly, clearly doesn’t know much about due diligence.”

“He knows the market and he builds a great product, though, and he trusts _my_ due diligence. And please, even you couldn’t improve on the tax structure you’ve already built for me.”

“It is a masterpiece,” she agreed, and they both laughed. “Okay, what are the major points you guys discussed? Did you discuss anything, put anything in writing?”

“Pretty vague, honestly. We said partners, I assumed that meant equal…”

“It could, but as your lawyer I’m going to say right now it probably shouldn’t. Look, Daniel, fax me anything you may have written down, and I’ll draft a preliminary proposal for you, okay? Look over it, see if it meets with your approval, make any suggestions, and we’ll schedule a meeting with Debeque and his lawyers to work it out.”

“Sounds great. When can you be in New York?”

“As soon as you need me to be.”

“And this is why I love you. Thanks, Scott.”

“It’s what I do, Daniel. I’ll talk to you later.”

Dana hung up the phone and shook her head. This was going to be a nightmare. Good thing there was sex on the other end of it.

\--

It was not a particularly difficult proposal to come up with, and unsurprisingly Daniel had almost no notes to make. He was a fairly hands-on businessman, but he had also learned to trust people who were experts in their area, which Dana certainly was. She’d communicated with Harvey through Linda and Donna and, honestly, the points Debeque had offered were exactly the same as the ones Vega had, which meant he was operating in good faith if nothing else. Still, she was pretty sure that getting into bed with this man was a bad idea, and she wasn’t going to let her client suffer for it.

The flight was long and boring, and not for the first time Dana wished that Darby & Cooke had an office in New York that she could work out of on a more regular basis. Not that she didn’t love London, not that she didn’t have friends or that Steve wasn’t great, but there was something about being in New York, even just customs at JFK, that really got her going. But that was the thing about being in your thirties, wasn’t it; to get ahead you had to close some doors. Once upon a time Cravath had been an option; once upon a time Skadden had been an option, but that was then and now was now and she was a partner at a prestigious law firm in a great city, and as for New York – well, her license was current and she could and did practice whenever she wanted.

The hotel was well run, she couldn’t help noticing, as a porter rushed immediately to grab her bags and politely but firmly turned down her tip, reminding her that her accommodations were entirely on the house. Vega’s driver similarly refused, and it was starting to look as if she’d have to apologize to Linda for the effort she’d gone to, to get her US currency in small bills on such short notice. Unsurprisingly, she was running late but the porter assured her he’d take care of her luggage and Debeque had her room key, so she could just head straight to the meeting without any of the hassle of check-in.

“And where is the meeting, do you know?” Dana asked before he got the chance to turn away.

“Uh, well, I think you’ll probably end up doing most of the work in your room, unless Mr. Debeque’s reserved a conference room? But you shouldn’t need one, there’s a pretty good-sized table in each guest room, and Mr. Debeque’s firm just sent one lawyer. They’re meeting in the lobby, though – down those stairs.”

“Great, thank you,” she replied.

“Of course, Ms. Scott. Have a pleasant stay.” He took off, and she took a deep breath, headed for the staircase, and put her sunglasses back on for good measure.

She studiously hid her grin as she walked down the stairs. Harvey was sitting with his back to her; he wouldn’t see her until it was too late for him to prepare, and she didn’t want to give him anything.

Didn’t stop her from posing though.

“Meet Ms. Dana Scott,” Daniel finished, completing his introduction with a flourish. She smirked and cocked one eyebrow, and both Daniel and Debeque rose to their feet, Debeque rushing forward with a welcome and a handshake. Harvey being Harvey, and Dana being Dana, however, he naturally remained seated until he absolutely could not help it.

“Scottie,” he greeted her finally.

“Harvey,” she replied, not looking at him.

“Oh, you two know each other!” exclaimed Debeque with a smile at the happy coincidence.

“We went to Harvard Law together,” she said coolly. “Harvey was fifth in the class, and I was, oh I forget, what was it?”

“Married to the library?” he offered.

“That’s right, number one.”

“Number one at studying,” he protested, and she did look at him then – seriously, Specter, you’re going there? The only thing he could do better than she could back at Harvard was cunnilingus, and only because he’d had more practice.

She could not _wait_ for them to get to her hotel room.

Clearly neither could their clients, because Debeque started leading both of them away from the lobby.

“Tell me, Scottie,” Harvey began, clearly unwilling to let it go. “What’s my success rate against you in the real world, where we practice real law?”

“Oh, Harvey, there should be no winners or losers in a merger, just a happy new couple.”

“That’s right, three-and-oh.”

“Let’s say we let these two talk deal points while I try your chef’s famous sea bass,” interjected Daniel. Debeque jumped right in, handing her a key card.

“Play nice,” Debeque advised, pulling away and taking Daniel’s arm. “We like each other, even if you two don’t.” The two walked away together and huh, cute couple, maybe they really were meant for each other after all.

As soon as they were out of sight, Dana let her smile drop and Harvey did the same, looking just as pissed off as they walked towards the elevator.

“Married to the library?” Ah, the fine wit of Harvey Specter. Especially grating given she knew perfectly well he’d spent as much if not more time in the library than she had back then. He could act as cool as he wanted, but they both knew he was a nerd.

“Not my fault the library was the best you could do.”

Son-of-a-bitch. She rolled her eyes and silently prayed Debeque’s hotel featured excellent elevators.

The room was nice, though, and she couldn’t help admiring it as she and Harvey strode inside.

“Do you have the preliminary proposal?” Harvey asked crisply, opening his briefcase, and really, that was what he was leading with?

“No, I just flew in from London completely unprepared,” she answered with a roll of her eyes, tossing the Smead folder with Vega’s proposal down on the table.

“Try not to be intimidated; I used some big words,” he told her, and tossed down his own folder.

“Overcompensation isn’t that big of a word.”

“It isn’t?”

“I can hardly wait to see the work of a _senior_ partner,” she commented, holding back her smile as she looked up at him, offering what she knew that _he_ knew perfectly well was the closest thing to heartfelt congratulations he was going to get from her.

“I see my promotion popped up on your, ‘Harvey Specter,’ Google alert,” he quipped as he took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair.

“That’s not all that’s going to pop up,” she replied – weak, yes, but he was already taking off his clothes, which meant she’d already won. They walked towards each other as if they didn’t both know exactly what was about to happen, and then she placed her hands on his shoulders to get enough leverage to wrap her legs around his waist and bring her mouth up high enough to kiss him. _God_ it had been too long. Harvey obviously thought so, too, because he had her against the wall within seconds.

“Can’t remember the last time we had a bed,” he commented, panting slightly. “Pretty convenient that we’re working on a hotel merger.” Dana couldn’t help laughing as Harvey whipped her around again and backed her against another wall slightly closer to the bed.

“Remember the mining deal?” she asked between kisses.

“Shaft 27? How could I forget?”

Mmm, and that was enough foreplay. She had just scrambled down from his arms and begun to work on the knot in his tie when he interrupted to ask about due diligence.

“Ah-ah-ah, Harvey. You know the rules.” She toed off her heels and let her dress drop as her knees hit the bed, Harvey coming down on top of her, his hips settling between her spread thighs. “No case negotiations ‘til we’re done.”

“I think that might be awhile,” he answered before leaning in to kiss her and honestly, what a cocky little shit. If it wouldn’t have been completely self-defeating she would have gone to long lengths to ensure he finished quickly enough to embarrass a fourteen-year-old with his first girlfriend – but unlike when they were in law school, Harvey wasn’t twenty-five anymore, and as gratifying as it would be to make him lose control, there was another kind of gratification that she wanted more.

Dana moaned and pulled Harvey close as his hips found a steady rhythm against hers. He inhaled loudly (“I do not gasp,” or so he’d told her repeatedly when she’d tried to describe that sound as such) and paused for a moment, enjoying the way she was pressing him into her, and she took advantage of the moment to roll him over onto his back so she was on top. He pretended to look shocked and offended as she settled in to straddle him and proceeded to strip off his white undershirt, but they both knew the implicit as well as explicit rules of their arrangement, and the fact of the matter was it had been a long time since they’d had a comfortable place to have sex. And after the way Harvey had found the strength and stamina to screw her up against the wall with her legs around his waist – or to bend her over his desk and drive into her standing, from behind – he’d earned what he’d never actually ask her for, and that was to lie back on a wonderfully soft but firm mattress while Dana took her turn to do the work.

She let her lips drift slowly down his neck, starting in on a hickey once she was low enough that he would _almost_ be able to hide it under his collar. He groaned at the suction and his hips bucked involuntarily as his hands gripped her ass, making her chuckle in the back of her throat and suck harder on his neck.

"Fuck, Scottie," he sighed, releasing her butt and running his hands along her body, sliding under her clothes to feel the bare skin of her back. "You need to take this off."

"Okay," she agreed with a grin, arching her back and pulling her top over her head. She tossed her hair back and reached behind her to unfasten her bra for good measure. Harvey's eyes lit up as she slipped out of the bra, and he leaned in immediately to fasten his mouth on her breast, and fuck, how could this be their last time? She moaned and ground her hips down against his, enjoying both the friction from his cock and the feel of his breath stuttering around her nipple.

"Mmm, you feel good," she gasped - unlike Harvey, Dana was perfectly willing to admit to gasping - and he chuckled.

"Already?" he murmured into her chest. "We haven't even started."

"Then take off your pants and let's start," she replied, reluctantly rolling off him so they could finish removing their clothes. Her panties came off quickly, and she lay there for a moment next to him, looking over the long form of him, the body that somehow managed to be familiar no matter how many years went by or how often she didn't see him.

She ducked her head as soon as his cock made it past the waistband of his boxers and sucked the head into her mouth, hard, smiling around him at his surprised shout.

"Jesus, Scottie, warn a guy..." She pulled off and looked up at him with a mischievous smile.

"Are you saying you don't want me to?" she asked innocently, not taking her eyes off him as she bent again, tugged his boxers down, and ran her tongue along his balls.

"Fuck. No, I just..." He was wriggling helplessly, steadied only by Dana's hands laid flat on his thighs.

"Can't handle it?" she taunted. "Thirty-eight, with the stamina of a much, _much_ younger man?"

"Just come kiss me, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, sliding torturously slowly up his body, drawing the anticipation out and not letting her mouth touch his until the last possible second. When she did finally kiss him, she did it slowly, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth with gradually intensifying pressure, relishing the chance to be so close to him that her own chest moved every time his heart beat.

How _could_ this be their last time?

Dana tried to think of something witty to say, but the only words she could find were, "I love you," and she couldn't say them, not to Harvey, not now, not ever, so she deepened their kiss instead and simultaneously reached between her legs to guide him inside her.

One of the many implicit by-laws of their arrangement was that they pretended to be too caught up in the moment to use a condom. Another was that they both knew that that was entirely false. Dana knew that Harvey slept around, and she knew just as well that he was never careless enough for unprotected sex - and neither had she been, back in the days when she was single and there had been uncertainty about with whom she'd be going home. They didn't use condoms with each other because they didn't want to; because in another life when he had been poor and she had been _young_ and the world had been limitless, they had fallen into a pattern of trusting each other and no matter what had happened since, they still did. Harvey could beat her in the courtroom or the conference room or, apparently, a hotel room, could be merciless with dirty tricks, but he would never hurt her.

It occurred to her as she sank down on him that she was probably breaking that rule by not telling him about Steve, but it was easy to forget if not to forgive herself when Harvey was inside her, clutching her hips as he thrust up into her and panting as she leaned forward to change the angle. He was pressing against her just right, now, and oh, this was going to be quick – and if she was reading his breathing correctly, it really _was_ going to be quick, so she gave a gentle tug on one of his wrists and pulled his hand around front. He took the hint and started rubbing small circles on her clit with his thumb, and yes, just like that, perfect…

“God, Harvey,” she moaned, hot breath against his ear. “Fuck, that’s just right, you’re so good…”

“Yeah?” he responded, his eyes closing briefly as she playfully started to suck on his earlobe.

“Mmm, yeah, you feel so good inside me,” she assured him, slowly increasing the speed of her hips and feeling him adjust his thumb to match, because he really was that good or at least he really did know her that well and holy _shit_ –

She came all at once, arching her back and going still for a long moment while she felt every drop of blood rushing through her body. Harvey was still tense beneath her as all her muscles relaxed, and she couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

“Finished already, Scottie?” he finally asked, with difficulty, and even though she knew perfectly well that it was taking every ounce of his self-control not to scramble for whatever friction he could get, she smiled down at him with pure pleasure.

“Almost,” she sang, starting up again fast and hard and giggling at the loud groan that fell from his lips as she did. She kept up the pace and it didn’t take long before he was coming, too, his hands tight on her ass and his head thrown back, his face contorting in a way that was both ridiculous and beautiful. Dana clenched around him a couple of times as he came down, just to keep him on his toes, and then she laughed a little, leaned in to kiss him on the neck, and rolled off him onto her back.

“ _Now_ we can talk deal points,” she declared. Harvey looked over at her, eyes roaming pointedly down her naked body, and smirked, launching them both into giggles.

“Sorry, I forgot you can’t concentrate when there are breasts to look at.”

“I never said that.”

“Nope, it was an independent conclusion based on years of firsthand observation.”

“I’ll give you firsthand observation,” he teased, rolling over to blow raspberries on her exposed belly, and they laughed again.

“Shut up, stop, Harvey, we really do have work to do, can you pass me my bra? On the floor next to your side of the bed?” He obediently leaned over and tossed it to her.

“You want your panties, too?” he asked, twirling them on a finger, and she shook her head.

“You can keep them,” she declared. “Closest you’ll come to beating me this time.”

“If you say so,” he chuckled before sighing and scrambling to his feet to put his clothes back on – though Dana noticed her panties went straight into his briefcase and couldn’t help a grin. She took a deep breath and then set about finding her clothes and getting dressed.

“So, deal points,” Harvey continued, now in his trousers, undershirt, and unbuttoned dress shirt.

“I’m not accepting an equal partnership,” she answered immediately, fastening her bra and pulling her top over her head.

“Neither am I, but somehow I get the feeling we have the percentages balanced on different sides.”

Dana rolled her eyes.

“Vega has more property,” she said coolly, zipping her dress. Harvey finished with his tie and turned around to face her.

“Debeque has more potential.” Ah, yes, potential. Because everyone always lives up to potential.

“Which is harder to monetarily define.”

“This isn’t a library, Scottie. My guy’s an up-and-comer; that’s why your guy’s pouncing.”

“Your client is an impulse shopper, which may have made him a quick success but can make him an even faster failure.”

“So he’s a passionate guy. He falls in love with a city and he builds himself a hotel. Who are you to argue with his track record?”

“I’m a realist, and I have _never_ seen a deal pushed through so quickly.”

“So what?”

“So, your guy might wake up tomorrow and decide that he doesn’t wanna do this, which is why I’m not showing you our private books without a signed deal.”

“Is that a joke?”

“Am I laughing?”

“Look, I may not have been awake during our M&A clinic – ”

“Except for when you were copying my notes…”

“Which was no walk in the park. You write like a monkey. But in any case, due diligence is a requirement.” She sighed.

“I have an obligation to my client,” she said, and pushed the Pearson Hardman Smead folder back at him.

“Then we don’t have a deal. And everyone’s going to know it’s because _you_ killed it.”

“You know…I don’t see you rushing to show us your private books.”

“I have nothing to hide. You can have full access to our books right now.”

“Great. You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” She heard what was wrong with that right as the words were coming out of her mouth. “ _Don’t_ say it, Harvey.”

“Well, all right, then,” he said with a smirk, and reached back into his briefcase for a padded binder that clearly represented Debeque’s accounting.

“Any significantly negative information, compared to what’s been made public?” she asked, arching her eyebrows as she took the ledger. Harvey rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Scottie, I let my client willfully misrepresent the finances of his publicly traded company because secretly, my name isn’t Harvey Specter; it’s Arthur Andersen.”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” she said dryly, eyes scanning quickly over the long lists of debits and credits before she got up and pulled a similar padded binder out of her suitcase. “And here you go, showing you mine, as promised.”

“ _Thank_ you,” he said magnanimously, opening the binder to inspect the numbers. “Ah, very much in order. Though not nearly as nice as your breasts.”

“Shut up, Harvey,” she shot back, but he was smiling at her and she couldn’t help smiling at him, and she was officially screwed because she was definitely head-over-heels in love.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes looking at the ledgers. Debeque’s company was surprisingly solid; despite the meteoric growth rate, which had had her a little worried even about solvency, he was actually quite liquid and didn’t have serious cash flow problems. Of course, the place still had Debeque at the helm, and that meant that there would always be at least the _perception_ of problems – a man like that would never look great trying to get a short-term loan no matter how standard they were – but if there were a way to neutralize him, the company would actually be a huge asset for Daniel.

“Well, I guess this isn’t the disaster it could be,” Dana offered finally. Harvey held up a finger to indicate he was still reading. Fair enough. She had a leg up because her undergrad had been in financial accounting, but even if she’d never say it to his face, Harvey was an amazingly quick study.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” he said with a smile a moment later, putting the ledger down and looking back up at her.

“What does your client want?”

Harvey raised his eyebrows.

“Equal partnership,” he answered ruefully. “Each maintains management of his current assets but they’re fully owned by both, no subsidiary bullshit, and a design team creates a new, joint logo.” Dana barked out a laugh.

“A logo? Are you a child?”

“I’m only conveying my client’s wishes.” They smirked pleasantly at each other. There was a reason these meetings always went sex first, work later.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll admit that this – ” she tapped the ledger “ – changes things. If we can take twenty minutes to come up with a version of those requests that make sense in grown-up language, I’m willing to take them to Daniel.”

Luckily, it wasn’t that hard, and half an hour later they left the hotel room together and found their clients finishing up lunch.

“Oh, good, you’re both still in one piece,” Debeque said with a laugh. “You had us worried there for a moment. I’ve seen Harvey box.”

“So have I,” Dana pointed out swiftly, glancing at Harvey.

“And I would never hit a woman,” he immediately countered. “No matter how much she deserved it.”

“Were you able to settle on a deal?” asked Vega, looking a little alarmed – as the one person who didn’t know Harvey well, it was understandable – and Dana glanced up at Harvey.

“I think we were,” she said carefully. “I’ll have to go over the points with you privately, of course, but negotiations with opposing counsel went fairly smoothly.”

“It was a little rough,” Harvey pointed out, grinning a little, and she inwardly rolled her eyes.

“Perfunctorily, maybe,” she retorted. “Anyway. Daniel, Mr. Debeque, I’ll let you two get back to your meal. And, Daniel, I have to admit I’d _really_ like to take a shower, but if you can give me an hour we can talk through the proposed deal points.” Vega nodded, and Dana turned to leave, but Debeque called her back.

“Ms. Scott!”

“Yes?”

“I just – you had a long flight this morning, and I know how tough Harvey is,” he said, his voice teasing but with a touch of concern. “Would you like some lunch? On the house, of course?” Aww. He was actually pretty nice. It was too bad, really. She shook her head.

“I appreciate it, Mr. Debeque, but I really just want a shower. Gentlemen – and Harvey,” she added with a grin. Both men rose and shook her hand, and as she walked past him Harvey tapped her gently on the arm.

“Feel free to bring that deal by _whenever_ you finish with it,” he said neutrally, but there was just enough of a twinkle in his eye that Dana was pretty sure he wasn’t referring to Pearson Hardman’s offices.

“Duly noted,” she answered, smiling briefly, and headed for the elevators.

The water pressure in her shower was perfect; the shower gel smelled incredible, and she let herself indulge for a while, letting the remnants of travel and sex wash away from her body. It really had been a long morning.

When she got out there was a room service platter waiting with a note.

_Ms. Scott,_  
_Harvey assured me it’s your favorite. Please feel free to order something else if he’s lying.  
Jones Debeque_

He’d sent a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Dana couldn’t help it – she laughed. Grilled cheese and tomato soup, the only things Harvey had known how to make in law school. He really did have her to thank for the non-solid condition of his arteries, not to mention the fact that he could still wear a 34 waist. Still, she hadn’t eaten anything since her McMuffin at Heathrow, and that had been…ten hours ago? And Debeque’s chef was supposed to be world-class. So, some comfort food from the adversary she was about to destroy wasn’t the worst idea.

Vega knocked on her door twenty minutes later and she invited him in.

“You liked the grilled cheese?” he asked with a grin, nodding towards the empty plate on the table. She laughed.

“You were in on that?”

“Jones was worried about you! ‘Tiny woman like that, a strong wind could break her in half, there’s no way she isn’t hungry, we should send her some food.’ I had no idea what you’d like, but Mr. Specter insisted that grilled cheese was the way to go.”

“Mr. Specter used to make me grilled cheese when we studied together in law school,” she replied, smiling slightly. “This, by the way, was much better than even his best efforts.”

“Jones hires only the best.”

“Yes, this place is well run; it’s a very pleasant surprise,” Dana said slowly, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “But you know, I have to admit I still have some reservations about whether a _merger_ is a good idea.”

“Come on, Scott, these hotels are great assets, you know that,” Vega responded, following her lead and sitting across from her.

“Yeah, they are. This _company_ is a great asset. I’m just not sure about Jones Debeque.”

“He’s a great guy. Grilled cheese, remember?”

“I do,” she said slowly. “He’s a _nice_ guy, for sure. Smart, passionate, charming, impulsive – I’m not going to pretend it’s not appealing.”

“He’s single, if you’re looking to get set up.”

Dana chuckled softly.

“I’m not, but I can see the appeal there, too. But look, Daniel, you’ve worked hard to build this company, you’ve done really well, you have a lot to lose. Guys like Debeque – they don’t care about losing. They get off on the thrill and don’t worry about the risk. This deal makes him your partner, gives him equal access to everything you’ve put your life into. Your money, your name, your employees, your customers. Are you really sure that’s what you want?”

“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith,” he said quietly.

“What if…I had a way that you didn’t have to?”

Vega raised his eyebrows at that.

“I’m listening.”

Dana smiled and pulled out a second folder. This was going to be easy. Hell, it was going to be _fun_.

\--

The deal itself stayed intact – the merger wouldn’t go into effect for a couple weeks, more than enough time to push through with a hostile takeover, especially since Debeque would never see it coming. No need to make a fuss when there were other places to put her focus.

Besides, finishing now meant going over to Harvey’s condo at a time when he was sure to be awake and energetic, and she really couldn’t accept the idea that they’d already had their last time. She hailed a cab and gave the driver Harvey’s address, shaking her head a little at the fact that she actually had it memorized.

“Dana Scott, how nice to see you,” John the doorman exclaimed when she arrived.

“Likewise,” she said with a smile, shaking his hand.

“It’s been awhile.”

“Oh, you know. I do have a whole life over in England.” She grinned. “Plus Harvey’s been dodging me. You know how he hates to lose.”

“Pardon my boldness, but if losing means getting to see you…”

“Aren’t you a charmer. Anyway. Can I go up?”

“You’re on Mr. Specter’s approved list.”

“Great.” She stepped into the elevator and John took care of the code.

The ride was slow – Dana got the impression she was supposed to take time to admire the view, but she’d been to Harvey’s apartment enough times that it had long since ceased to impress her. The overall effect was nothing but a build of anticipation, a flutter in her tummy that she wasn’t going to avoid anymore. She wanted to see him. She wanted to _be_ with him. Steve was great, but there was a reason she hadn’t been able to say yes yet, and that reason was lounging on a couch in the ultimate bachelor pad.

And now he was smiling at her.

“Mmm, gotta hand it to you, Harvey. You may not be able to commit to a woman, but you have been in this place a very long time.”

“She gets me,” he shrugged, almost boyishly, from the couch.

“And has no needs.” She pulled out the agreement and started to walk over toward him. God, he looked good in blue, it made him look younger, softer, more like the boy who really might’ve committed to her if she’d been a touch less independent and ambitious.

Probably not, though. Her independence and ambition was always what seemed to turn him on most. And given how eagerly he’d eaten her out when she announced she’d gotten the O’Connor clerkship, she somehow doubted he would have wanted her if she’d turned it down to go straight to New York with him.

“I don’t think you understand how high-maintenance this place is,” countered the man with an elevator that opened straight into his home. Dana didn’t react but stood in front of him, holding the blue-backed agreement and looking down at him.

“He agreed to all your terms, despite my protest that he could do better.” She pulled her skirt up over her knees so that she could kneel on the couch next to Harvey.

“So we’re done.”

“Minus a few signatures.”

“That’s not done,” he pointed out.

“Want me to leave?” she asked, moving closer so that he was eye-level with her breasts and cocking her head to the side. He didn’t say anything, but the look on his face clearly declared that he wanted to swallow her whole, so she bent forward to kiss him and relished the feel of his hands coming around her back to cup her ass one last time.

“Mmm…Scottie. It’s been too long,” he rumbled against her lips. She drew in a breath and pressed her hips into his.

“It has been eight hours,” she reminded him, and he laughed.

“Right, and that’s entirely too long,” he sighed, “but you know what I mean. We need to be opposing counsel more often.”

“I’ll have Linda draw up an enemies list for each of your clients when I get back,” she promised.

“And I’ll have Donna do the same for yours.”

“Please. We both know she already has one.” They both laughed, then, and Harvey rose to his feet, lifting her thighs to rest on his hips, skirt bunched around her waist, as he carried her towards his bedroom. She leaned in and pressed soft kisses against his neck, his jaw, his ear even as her nails dug into the heavy muscles of his shoulders. He paused in the doorway, one of his arms moving from her ass to wrap tightly around her waist and pull her closer as he kissed her. It was so intimate that it nearly took her breath away, and, God, maybe she’d never be able to _tell_ Harvey Specter how much she loved him, but she knew she could _show_ him.

And there was plausible deniability. After all, he’d always known she was good at sex.

He dropped her on the bed and climbed on top of her, and this time she let him stay there for a while, kissing and caressing what skin she could reach and not reacting every time he seemed to be trying to get some of their clothes off. Harvey might like to pretend he wanted instant gratification, but she knew how much he appreciated a teasing, tortuous ride.

“God, I want you,” he growled in her ear. She shivered and arched her back and slipped her fingers inside his pants, scraping her nails over his butt and making his hips jerk involuntarily.

“And you’re gonna have me, I promise,” she whispered, thrusting her hips up to meet his and moving his collar to the side so that she could continue working on the hickey she’d given him earlier in the day. His breathing changed as she sucked, and, yes, he was actively panting now, so it was probably time to give a little.

“Take your pants off,” she breathed into his neck. Harvey’s hands immediately moved between their bodies, fumbling with the fastenings and shoving his pants down over his hips.

“You want me to get your skirt, too?” he mumbled. She chuckled softly and let her lips trail down to right below his Adam’s apple.

“It’s not in the way,” she answered, and ran a finger inside the waistband of his boxers.

“Scottie, _everything_ that’s between your skin and mine is in the way.”

“Fine,” she purred, lifting her hips off the bed. “Have at it, Specter.” He had just found the hook-and-eye when she slipped her whole hand into his boxers and wrapped it around his cock.

“ _Shit_ ,” he panted, making her laugh.

“Come on, Harvey, can’t get a girl’s skirt off? What are you, sixteen?”

“I can do it,” he assured her, trying again and being thwarted when she gave him a firm tug.

“Jesus, Scottie, are you trying to kill me?”

“Now where’d be the fun in that?” she teased. Nevertheless, she let him go and acquiesced when he went to pull her blouse over her head.

“I want you naked,” he growled.

“Someone’s bossy,” she breathed, but she popped the snap on her bra and proceeded to wriggle out of her panties, never taking her eyes off his. Once she was done with her own clothes she made short work of his, not even asking this time but simply stripping him naked and pushing him back on the bed. He raised his eyebrows at her and she smiled honestly at him before lowering her head and kissing his neck, his clavicle, pausing at his nipples and then down to his iliac crest and onward until she was sucking another hickey onto his inner right thigh.

Harvey looked down at her, eyes wide, and she met and maintained eye contact as she finished with his right thigh and licked and kissed her way over to the left. The mood had shifted from playful to passionate, and as she pushed his cock past her lips, gazing up at his face the whole time, she knew she was giving the game away. She bobbed shallowly on him a couple of times before relaxing her throat and letting him slip all the way down, sucking and licking as she rolled his balls in her hand. His eyes fluttered shut a few times, but every time he opened them he was looking at her. And when he finally, breathlessly, stopped her and turned her over so that he could reciprocate, Dana couldn’t help thinking that maybe, just maybe, Harvey Specter loved her, too.

He could be a tease sometimes, but oddly enough he wasn’t tonight, fucking her eagerly with his tongue until she was moaning helplessly and writhing on the bed underneath him, fingers digging deep into his shoulders just because if she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to keep from pushing his face into her. When he changed his focus to her clit it was all over, she was coming on his tongue and he was relentless until he wasn’t, until he was letting her down gently as she shuddered and her own pulse pounded in her ears.

Harvey pulled away when she was finished, sitting back on his knees, and Dana propped herself up on her elbows, still looking at him.

“Oh my God,” she sighed, shaking her head, before she reached for him and pulled him back down on top of her, kissing him deeply and feeling a slight thrill at the taste of herself on his mouth.

“I wanna be inside you,” he whispered, harshly, and she nodded slowly and guided him in, letting her legs drift around his waist as he started. And even though he was clearly far enough gone that she didn’t expect it to last long no matter what she did or didn’t do, she couldn’t help wanting to make it good, make it better, make him come so hard he forgot his own name. Once he found a steady pace she tightened and relaxed around him in time with his movements, which quickly accelerated as he chased his release.

“Yes, fuck me, baby, do it, plow me, yes, harder, yes…” she moaned, drawing her knees closer to her body as his thrusts got more erratic.

“God, you feel good,” he managed, his eyes screwing shut as his face reddened and he slammed harder and harder into her. His chest was heaving and Dana could tell he was _almost_ there, so she pulled her legs back further and hooked her calves over his shoulders. He groaned immediately at the change in position and sped up a little more.

“Do it, Harvey, I want you to come inside me,” she urged. He pushed in, hard, one last time, and let out one more strangled moan before collapsing on top of her, breathing hard and heart pounding. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face against his sweat-slicked neck.

“Fuck,” he sighed. Dana smiled privately into his skin and threaded one hand into his hair, scratching her nails against his scalp and enjoying the feel of Harvey coming down from his high and softening inside her. He stayed close for a few moments, clearly not wanting to move, before finally slipping out and rolling over onto his back, stretching deeply and closing his eyes.

“Scottie, that was amazing,” he sighed as she put on his shirt and fastened a few buttons. Dana clicked her tongue and pumped her fist in the air, grinning helplessly to herself, and walked over to pour him a glass of water.

“Careful, Harvey. You need to hydrate. You just ran a marathon.” She walked back to the bed and lay down, leaning towards the sleepy, satiated lump of Harvey Specter she’d left there, and offering him the glass. He took a sip and smiled at her before putting it down on the night table and leaning in to kiss her. She closed her eyes and relished it, reciprocating eagerly and opening her mouth to him – until he pulled away.

“And I think you just beat me,” he announced, frowning at her and rolling over to his side to get up.

“Uh-oh, that’s a lawyer look,” she said, not budging from her spot on the bed.

“Law school, post-mock trial, in the library,” he announced, pulling on his boxers. “Second Circuit Court of Appeals, class action, on the prep room table.” Now, the shirt. “Dempsey settlement, in my office, on the desk and under.” Damn it, he was fully dressed now – there was no getting around it, she had to get out of bed.

“So what are we doing, uh, a highlight reel?”

“As a matter of fact, we are. Those were top moments, right?”

“They weren’t bad,” she agreed, coolly.

“No, they were _great_ ,” he insisted, “and I just realized, this was better. You were the best you’ve ever been, and I know why.”

Crap. He’d figured it out. Well, there was only so much she could pretend with this man, who’d known her since she was twenty-two and had been getting inside her head almost as long.

“Why?”

“You hid something from me in the negotiation, and I wanna know what.”

Oh.

Well, she couldn’t deny that that was true, although she’d certainly try, but she still couldn’t help the chuckle that popped out of her throat at the idea that _this_ was her big secret.

“You know what? You are ridiculous.”

“You know what, don’t do that, okay?” he said, annoyed now, as she went to pick up her skirt from where it had fallen.

“Do what?”

“You think I don’t know victory sex when I see it?”

“See it?” As if she’d been performing on a stage!

“What is it? One of Vega’s properties is bankrupt? The Buenos Aires one?”

“Wha-What do you want me to say, Harvey?” she sputtered, sitting down to put on her shoes. “‘Yes, you got me, I screwed you’?”

“How?” he demanded, not smiling.

“Oh my God, you want an anatomy lesson now?” She was rushing now to the door, ready to leave, ready to be far away from this _ridiculous_ man who could hear _I love you_ and interpret it as _I just won_.

“That’s my shirt,” he pointed out.

“Consider it a winner’s reward,” she said with as much dignity as she could manage before slamming the door behind her, biting her lip to keep from crying, rushing past John without even saying goodbye.

Luckily, that night, at least, the taxis of Manhattan seemed to have a soft spot for a woman with bedhead, wearing a man’s dress shirt and pencil skirt with no stockings, and she caught a cab back to the hotel fairly easily, still holding the tears back as she paid and tipped the driver.

She didn’t cry until she was alone in her room, shoes and skirt in a pile on the floor, face down on the bed. God, she was such an idiot. This was Harvey Specter, after all, her old law school boyfriend that she still fucked on occasion when their paths crossed. He’d never asked to be the love of her life – he’d never _wanted_ to be the love of her life. He’d wanted her body, her mind, but he –

It was just that she remembered when she’d thought he had wanted _her_. When he’d agonized over what to do about Marcus and given himself a panic attack, she was the one he’d called. When he’d raged in frustration at Jessica Pearson’s insistence that he take a job at the district attorney’s office instead of coming straight to her firm, or even clerking for a year or two, she was the one who heard the yells. They’d been best friends; they’d been lovers; they’d been rivals without true malice – and at twenty-five she hadn’t known how rare that was, or that she’d go the next ten years trying to find it again.

DC and New York weren’t that far apart. She could’ve taken the clerkship and taken Cravath and told Harvey she’d visit and begged him to wait for her, and who knows? That Harvey might have said yes.

Not that there was any use dwelling on the past. Steve was a good man, and he wanted to be with her – her, Dana, the woman; he wanted to be with her and make a life with her, not to argue with her and reminisce with her and fuck her under his desk and then go home alone. She couldn’t make Harvey into the man she wanted, no matter how much she wanted him.

She could, however, sleep in his shirt, and spend her night in New York pretending that everything in her life were different.

Morning came way too soon and Dana didn’t want to think about how much makeup and hair product it was going to take to make her look even presentable. Every year made shitty mornings even shittier, and it would be enough to put her in a really bad mood if she didn’t know perfectly well that in this case, her bad mood was entirely transparent.

She took a quick shower and spent more time than she would have liked in front of the mirror, finally giving up and throwing on a particularly flattering dress and a huge pair of sunglasses. She was just going to the airport, after all. It wasn’t as if anyone was going to see her.

A car was just pulling up as she walked out of the hotel lobby, and the same friendly porter from yesterday opened the door for her to get in.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, before she recognized Harvey’s face in the backseat.

“Are you here to give me a proper send-off?” she asked wryly as he got out of the car.

“I don’t think we can do that out here on the street,” he replied, not hiding the way his eyes raked over her body. He always had liked the way she looked in white.

“You sure?” She took her sunglasses off and looked him in the face, this stupid, beautiful man she loved.

“You tricked me. I’m impressed.” Of course. Because blow his…mind…with your body all you like, the only way to get Harvey Specter’s respect is beating him with your brain.

“To be fair, Vega did want a merger. I just convinced him that given your client’s propensity for rash purchases, that allowing him to stay in charge was a bad idea.” And it was, and she stood by that, because this guy made bad decisions. He’d built an empire in barely a decade but left unchecked that empire would be in shambles before another had passed. “Vega needed Debeque’s hotels, minus Debeque, and…I found a way.”

“One that he never asked for or wanted, and one that he’s never gonna get,” Harvey countered, handing her three sheets of paper. She glanced down and couldn’t help a surprised scoff.

“What – is this for real?”

“Three of Debeque’s properties that’ll be on the market by the end of the day.”

“He’s never gonna let you sell off his crown jewels.”

“See, that’s the thing about passionate clients. When they’re crossed, they get angry, and they’ll do anything to get back.”

Dana looked down and knew he was right. She bit her lip. This…was not going to end well for her. Edward was gonna be pissed. She should’ve given the damned thing to Karen Patel after all.

“Look, there’s another way we can do this,” Harvey said, more gently. “We can get our clients into a room together, you can tell them you were wrong, and we can convince them back into a merger.” Ahh, yes, of course – humbling her, the thing Harvey liked even better than orgasms.

“Fine,” she said softly. “I’ll call Daniel.”

“I’ll call Debeque.

“Meet at the hotel in an hour?”

“See you there.” He turned and walked away, and Dana sighed and pulled out her cell phone.

“Hi, Daniel,” she said softly when he picked up. “Look, we’re…well, Harvey figured it out, and he’s convinced Debeque to sell off his three most profitable hotels. We’re going to need to come up with a different deal. Harvey and Debeque are meeting us at the hotel in an hour, and…I guess we’ll see if we can figure something out.” She almost didn’t wait for his response, but she was a professional and she could take it.

“Okay, Scott,” he answered after a long pause. “I guess I’ll meet you there.”

Of course. Because he was a professional, too.

\--

They met in a conference room, this time, not a hotel room, and from the moment everyone walked in it was clear Harvey was going to be running the show. Dana quietly took her seat next to Vega and let her eyes drift over to Harvey at the head of the table.

“Gentlemen, I appreciate your leaving the swords at home. What started out as a true merger never needed to become anything different.”

“Daniel, I want you to listen to me. I know Harvey, and he just wants to merge your businesses so he can double his billable hours.” Possibly true, probably not in the strictest sense – billables looked great to the other partners but Harvey made most of his fees on contingency – but she had to put on a show at least, and she really _was_ worried about the direction Debeque was going to take. Passion’s wonderful but risky, and Daniel Vega had enough that he had a lot to lose.

“Quiet, Scott. I wanna hear what he has to say.”

“I’m just here to get my client the deal that he wants, and what he wants is a merger. Is that right, Jones?”

“That’s right,” Debeque said coolly, eyes straight ahead.

“Daniel. Your law firm overreached in a situation where it wasn’t necessary. It’s not entirely Scottie’s fault. We lawyers all have an instinct to win, but sometimes we may not fully understand what that means.”

“We understand what it means,” she answered softly, catching his eyes.

“Well, maybe you do, and maybe you don’t. For me, it would be to see both men return to the initial deal so that you can grow both your businesses, instead of having one company with a hostile reputation and the other a shell of what it once was. I mean, that doesn’t sound like a win to me.” Ugh, and now it was Harvey trying to catch her eyes, and yeah, he was right, but he was right _now_ , when the stock-buying had already begun and Debeque was ready to sell off everything he owned to make sure that no one could buy it. She shook her head slightly. It could have been so different.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel said, and it was all over for her now.

“Let’s just go back to the original deal,” Debeque agreed. They shook hands and agreed to run it together, but through the whole thing Harvey’s eyes stayed on her.

\--

Daniel fired her after the deal was signed. It barely even hurt at this point; she’d been expecting it, and, well, these things happened. She’d lost clients before and she’d lose clients again and Edward wouldn’t be happy but she brought in more than enough business to cover herself, her secretary, and as many associates as she needed to work her cases. Daniel’d had the courtesy to do it privately and politely, and even to pretend that it wasn’t because she’d failed but because after the merger he and Debeque would be a single entity and it just made more sense to stick with Pearson Hardman, as a unit, than to keep another wedge between the two of them. He’d asked her to leave the hotel after shaking her hand, though, so she didn’t have to be much of a judge of character to tell he was pissed.

In the scheme of things it really wasn’t a big deal, but it did sting, and coming straight on the heels of what Harvey had just done to her heart she really didn’t feel like doing anything but having a drink and feeling sorry for herself.

There were, of course, plenty of gorgeous hotels in Midtown, and frankly she could have afforded any of them – the pound was doing pretty well against the dollar – but somehow she found herself booking a room at the Harvard Club of New York City. And as much as she could tell herself it was to justify the fact that Darby & Cooke had been paying her membership fee for years now, she knew it was because Harvey would find her there quicker than he would anywhere else. She checked in without fanfare, dropped the bag on her bed and freshened up her makeup, and went downstairs.

The room was almost empty, which made the whole thing both less depressing – no one to witness her misery – and more, because God, what could be sadder than drinking alone at the fucking Harvard club right after losing a big client? She ordered a drink and pretended not to be waiting for anyone. She didn’t have to not-wait long.

“Single malt, please,” came Harvey’s voice as he strode into the room. Typical Harvey, order something vague and expect the bartender to know exactly what you want.

“Harvard club? I thought you hated this place,” he added, taking a seat next to her.

“Vega kicked me out of his hotel, so, you know…beggars,” she answered.

“Save the pout. You were head of Law Review, you clerked for a Supreme Court judge, and you almost beat me. I think that deserves a drink. On you.” More typical Harvey, specifically saying, “head,” rather than, “president,” and, “judge,” rather than, “justice,” – baiting her, trying to get her to correct him so he could laugh at her and make jokes about no one wanting to fuck her but the library.

Kind of ironic, really, given that he’d fucked her in the library more than once. She didn’t take the bait.

“I’d laugh, but I just got fired,” she said flatly.

“From the firm?” he asked, his tone shifting suddenly, and seriously, fuck him. He didn’t get to act as if he cared about her now, not when she’d given him chance after chance and he still couldn’t see her as a woman – a woman he’d known for almost fifteen years, a woman he’d spent late nights with, laughing and studying and crying and screwing and, yes, _making love_ , even if they’d never call it that – and not just a formidable adversary.

“No,” she assured him. “But the firm’s not going to be happy, and that’s why I’m not already on a plane.”

“Hey, the Scottie I know is tougher than that.”

“Is she?”

They looked at each other in silence for a moment, and for a moment there the words danced on her tongue – “the Scottie you _knew_ wasn’t already heartsick over your dumb face” – but of course he deflected the tension with a joke, lifting an ad off the bar with a smirk.

“Well, you wanna go back to our alma mater and see a lecture on…why women are better at science? Might cheer you up.” She couldn’t help it; she laughed.

“Maybe, but I’m not going with you.”

“Come on, we’re still friends,” he said softly, and for the first time since she’d come to New York he looked at her with the slightest hint of vulnerability, the tiniest suggestion that he didn’t want her to walk out of his life completely leaving nothing but her panties behind.

“I’m getting married, Harvey,” she told him. “His name is Steve, he asked me a month ago, and…when I get back to London, I’m going to say yes.”

Dana might have enjoyed the dumbstruck look on Harvey’s face a little more than she should have, but even that wasn’t enough to soothe away the edges of the pain.

“What would you like me to say?”

“Nothing,” she shrugged, pressing her fingertips against her eyes and willing the tears to stop as she got off the bar stool to leave. It wasn’t so much that she wanted him to _say_ it as it was that she wanted him to _mean_ it, and he’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t.

“Come here,” he said in a low murmur, and he drew her into a hug. She closed her eyes and let her arms tighten around his neck as he bent his face into hers.

“I’m sorry I won.”

“No, Harvey,” she said softly, clinging to him for a moment longer before letting go and cupping his jaw, memorizing the look and the feel and the smell of him. “I would hate it if you were sorry about that.” She rested her palms against his chest just long enough to feel his heart thump, and pulled out of his arms completely, walking away.


End file.
